The present invention relates to pumps, and in particular to a vibratory pump that can be widely used in different branches of industry, in scientific research, in medicine and in agriculture production.
When fluids are to be moved from one place or container to another, a pump is normnally used. The wide variety of pumps available can very adequately move the fluid using mechanical forces generated by the pump. However, these pumps cannot adequately move precise volumes of fluid due the presence of back pressure in the fluid lines of the pump. This back pressure is created by the force of the fluid flowing through the pump, and causes the fluid being pumped to continue to flow for a period of time after the pump has stopped operating.
Therefore it is desirable to develop a type of pump which is capable of moving large volumes of fluid from one location to another without creating any back pressure within the pump itself. A pump having this capability would be highly useful in situations where the volume of fluid to be moved must be extremely precise, such as in various medical applications.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pump operated by a vibration generator that does mot create any back pressure in the fluid flow when the pump is in operation.
It is another object of the invention to provide a pump which can deliver a fluid in a wide range of volumes by varying the frequency of the vibration generator driving the pump.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a pump that can provide a fluid flow out of the fluid lines of the pump during both the downward and upward strokes of the pump.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a pump capable of combining the fluid flow generated during both strokes of the pump into a single fluid flow.
The present invention is a pump operated by a vibration generator connected to the pump. The pump includes a plunger slidably disposed within a housing having a number of fluid openings. The fluid openings allow the fluid to be pumped to enter the interior of the housing. A shaft connects the plunger to the vibration generator to enable the pump to move in conjunction with the oscillations of the vibration generator. The vibration generator causes the shaft and plunger to move a short distance in order to create the pumping action for the apparatus.
The plunger is in fluid communication with an outlet on the housing and also includes a number of fluid openings that enable the fluid entering the housing to flow into the plunger. The oscillation of the plunger within the housing successively fills the plunger with fluid and forces the fluid out of the outlet of the housing.
The small travel length of the plunger in the housing creates no back pressure in the fluid passing through the pump. This enables the fluid flow generated by the pump to stop instantaneously with the shutting off of the pump. Furthermore, because the vibration generator is controlled by a variably operable power source, it is possible to change the output of the pump of the present invention over a wide range of operational parameters to control the flow rate based upon the particular application to which the pump is put.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.